


love me today + don't leave me tomorrow

by patriciaselina



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, BBC Sherlock AU, Biking, Childhood, Childhood Memories, First Kiss, Gen, In which everything is Reigisa and nothing hurts, Inspired by Frozen (2013), Inspired by a Music Video, Jogging, M/M, POV First Person, POV Third Person Omniscient, Rei wrapped up in a sheet is very distracting 10/10 will ogle again, Reigisa Week, Too much AU inspirations to handle, inspired by a book
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 08:32:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1812010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciaselina/pseuds/patriciaselina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of short disconnected fanfics written for the first five days of <a href="http://reigisaweek.tumblr.com">Reigisa Week</a>. Cross-posted from my <a href="http://patriciaselina.tumblr.com/tagged/reigisa-week">tumblr</a>.</p><p> </p><p>6.15 - first kiss -- "point zero", based on my fic <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1293586">Ichiban</a><br/>6.16 - distractable -- "laughter", based on my <a href="http://patriciaselina.tumblr.com/tagged/bbc-sherlock-au">BBC Sherlock AU</a><br/>6.17 - mermen -- "equivalent exchange", based on Kiera Cass' book <a href="www.kieracass.com/books/the-siren.html">The Siren</a><br/>6.18 - other sports -- "catching up", based on the SNSD+Super Junior MV <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2BPFKt2u5c">Seoul Song</a><br/>6.19 - winter -- "reception", based on my Frozen/Splash Free! AU fic <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1470334">Abluvion</a><br/>6.21 - freestyle (anything??) -- "pick-up lines", based on the lyrics of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98VRqjHuJn8">this OPM song</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. point zero

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Ichiban • いちばん](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1293586) by [patriciaselina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciaselina/pseuds/patriciaselina). 
  * Inspired by [BBC Sherlock AU](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/56500) by patriciaselina. 
  * Inspired by [Abluvion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1470334) by [patriciaselina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciaselina/pseuds/patriciaselina). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Nagisa POV oneshot for reigisaweek, sort-of prologue to my Reigisa “first kiss” fic Ichiban.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is actually supposed to be a bit of a pun - the original Rei-POV present-day fic of this was titled "Ichiban", 'first', and zero comes before one. Also, 'rei' can be read as 'zero' - I was actually really thinking of the Japanese Reigisa doujin event "Nagisa approaching at point zero" here.

It all started when my mom finally allowed me to walk on my own, with the rule that I had to be holding hands with at least one of my sisters.  _As if_  I’d be safer ‘round them. Leaving me to my sisters is like leaving a baby in the wild to be tended to by wild animals – actually, Tarzan was tended to by wild animals, and Mononoke- _hime_  was too, and I  _still_  think that I’ve got it worse, so maybe the comparison isn’t accurate enough.

Anyway,  _that thing_  happened Christmastime, on the first Christmas that I spent not being carried around.

There was nothing to it, really. The point was that – the point was that, that there was no other point. That was all.

We were walking around with Mom, my sisters window-shopping and bickering over what they should ask for presents from dad when he got home from his business trip abroad. I was unusually quiet, probably ‘cuz Mom had told me something along the lines of ‘ _no sweets before lunchtime_!’, I guess, because I kinda remembered thinking that my sisters had candies in their pockets and I didn’t and it was  _unfair_.

Somewhere along the way Mom and us exchange his and hellos with a family we happen to see. Dad, mom, two brothers – the younger brother was a baby, younger than me in any case, still using a stroller. The dad and his sons were quiet, and the mom was the only one talking with our mom.

“My, you have such good-looking children,” the other mom had said, smiling cheerfully as she looked at all four of us before looking back at my mom. “If you don’t mind me asking, where’s their father?”

“He’s on an overseas convention. ‘S too bad he had to be gone during Christmas season, but…work will be work, I guess.” Mom said in reply, fiddling with her wedding band like she usually did when she missed Dad. “Your boys look so handsome, as well. How old is your youngest?”

The mom in front of us swept a soft hand across her baby’s sideswept bangs, to keep them off his little face. “He just turned two yesterday. He’s growing up so fast, I can’t believe it!” she said, laughing softly. “He’ll catch up to his big brother in no time, at this rate.”

“My youngest just turned two a few months ago, as well,” Mom said, as she looked at me with a proud look that made my cheeks flush pink. “Started walking a few days after. Kids  _really_  grow up fast these days.”

As the two moms talked about stuff that flew absolutely over my little head, I decided to tune them out, and found myself looking at the little baby in the stroller right in front of me.

 _Really_  looking.

The baby did have the exact same color of his mom’s hair – a nice dark blue that reminded me very much of night-time – chubby cheeks, bright eyes, cute little lips that had been pursed up in some kind of baby-frown. His eyes were bright and purple, and even then little two-year-old me thought that they seemed to look intelligent, somehow, and when those pretty eyes somehow locked onto my own I felt something stir in my chest, and my mouth flew open.

“Nagi-chan, Nagi-chan,” Izumi had said, squeezing my hand, “You look ready to go catch flies!”

I don’t remember what I might’ve thought back then, but it might’ve been some child-friendly version of  _Shut **up** , Izumi-neechan._

I don’t remember saying anything in response to my sister’s teasing, though, because what I do remember is what my mouth somehow said without my brain’s involvement: “That baby is  _really_  cute!”

And just as everyone ‘round us fell silent at that, for some reason, I somehow think that it’d be a good idea to press my lips to the little baby’s ones, like I used to see Mom and Dad do before, when they’re really happy. I don’t know why I wanted to do that; only that I did, so that’s what I did.

The baby didn’t do anything more than blink those large purple eyes twice, thrice, before his brother scooped him up from the stroller and kept giving me angry looks, but just like that, my heart  _thump-thump-thump_ ed in my chest anyway. Still did, even when the family bid us goodbye and when we all got home from the mall.

I was two years old back then, and I am sixteen now, so of course this memory is a bit rough ‘round the edges, that is when I even remember it at all. But Mom tells me the story, really frequently. It’s important, she says, so I have to remember.

When I first met Rei, dark blue hair, purple eyes, I didn’t notice it at first. But as time went on – as we spent more and more time together, practicing, studying, camping, doing everything else in between – I began noticing stuff like that. Like his long limbs and big hands and how warm he feels when his hands reach for me to stop me from doing silly things. And all these feelings, all this  _thinking_ , somewhere along the way, it made me realize something.

It made me realize that right now, I wish, more than anything else, that  _Rei_  was the one.

So that’s why, one day, I ask him.

“Ne, Rei-chan, have you ever had your first kiss?”


	2. distractable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reigisa week || 6.16.laughter || distractable
> 
> A little something from my Reigisa BBC Sherlock AU, based off the season 2 episode Scandal in Belgravia. Hope you like it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for the BBC Sherlock AU originally came from the lovely mental image of Rei wearing the coat and scarf Ben Cumberbatch dons as Sherlock...and was driven by the sheer need to have Rei lounge around in a Palace wearing nothing but a thin white bedsheet. Yup. So here we go.

I know that Rei is a weird guy, but this is  _ridiculous_.

His brother’s people had took me from my shift, grumbled vague-ass excuses to my supervisor, and had whisked me off to the Imperial Palace in one of Haruka’s expensive-as-hell black tinted-window cars. But none of this is ridiculous  _enough_  in the face of what I see in front of me.

Rei’s messy blue hair is strewn over the cushions as he leans his head against them, his eyes looking up at the ceiling as he mutters words under his breath. There’s a sheet draped ‘round his shoulders, dipping  _dangerously_  close to his waist, showing off a large expanse of tan skin and toned muscle from his long neck to his  _very_  nice abs, and it shouldn’t floor me but it does. It does, God help me, it  _does_.

As if that weren’t enough, the sheet is white and thin and goddamned  _enticing_  and thinking about this too hard makes my blood go south.

 _Reaaaally_  quickly.

It’s a miracle I even get to speak, actually. “Rei, who’re you talking to?”

“You,  _obviously_ ,” he says, in that deadpan voice of his, which I honestly hear each and every day of my life but when in combination with the lighting and his sheet-wearing and his words themselves (he was talking to  _me_  just me  _only_  me) it makes my knees go weak which is ridiculous, very ridiculous, I am not a teenager, I am an  _adult_ , for crying out loud.

“Huh. You knew I was here without looking?” I say, walking across the room to join him on the couch, perfectly sure that I’d be able to sit next to him in that state _without_  trying to pull that annoying sheet off him. “Then again, I should’ve expected that.”

“I didn’t,” Rei says, blowing his bangs out of his eyes, his pursed lips looking  _very_ distracting and why am I thinking these things, I am a bad friend, I am a bad person. “We were talking; we agreed that I would not make myself physically present for cases that rank any lower than an eight.”

“I don’t remember agreeing on that, Rei, I just got back from Iwami yesterday.” I say.

“It’s not my fault you’re not a good  _listener_ , Nagisa,” my roommate says, doing this full-body shrug in response, one that makes the sheet dip lower on his waistline and I have to look somewhere,  _anywhere_ , for the sake of my sanity. When I do this, though, it makes me realize a thing, and it makes me whip my head around to face him again.

“Rei, do you just…keep talking to me, even when I’m away?”

He lifts his head from the cushions in one graceful, drawn-out motion, and when those eyes of his look at me like they always do it makes my heart beat faster and maybe this is what Makoto had meant when he said that I had the most obvious crush in the history of forever.

“I don’t know, Nagisa, how long are you away?”

“A-ahh, okay, okay then.” I say, ducking my head to break eye contact because those eyes, ladies and gentlemen those eyes, they’re really gonna be the death of me. _Change the subject_ , Nagisa.

“Rei, are you wearing underwear under that sheet?”

…change the subject to anything  ** _but_**  something that reminds you that your  _really **hot**_ best friend is all but naked beside you, Nagisa. You had  _one_  job.

Rei, unaware of my mental turmoil, looks at me with those eyes of his again, and drawls out the word “ _No_ ,” for longer than he has a right to.

He looks at me, unrelenting. I look at him, my cheeks still pink, and then —

– then, I collapse into laughter because this is funny, Rei’s  _acting_  funny, I’m  _thinking_ funny, and if you don’t think that the sight of your roommate wearing nothing but a sheet in the Imperial Palace isn’t hilarious then I feel really sorry for you. You must have a sad life.

“What are we doing here, anyway?” I manage to ask him, in between chuckles. Somewhere along the way one of Rei’s arms ended up slung over my shoulders, and I can’t find it in myself to complain at all.

“What are we doing  _in the Imperial Palace_ , you mean?” Rei quips, with a touch of mischief to his thin-lipped smile. “Because if you were to ask me that question in a spiritual sense, in the way of asking what we are doing  _here_  on Earth  _in general_ …”

“ _Of course_ I mean ‘ _what’re we doing in the Imperial Palace_?’ Silly Rei!” I chide back, catching him in a playful headlock which makes me feel his velvet-smooth laughter vibrating in his throat and I am in  _so_  deep why is he still friends with me. Moving on, dealing with that later. “Anyway. Why are we here?” I repeat myself, moving away from him as he readjusts how the sheet falls over his shoulders. Rei has really nice shoulders. “Are we gonna meet the Emperor, or something?”

Rei’s words start forming the word “Actually,” but then that’s when Haruka comes in, so he stops talking and his small smile morphs into an all-out smirk. “Yes, apparently,” Rei says, his eyes favoring his sighing brother with a cheeky look, “We  _are_  here to meet the Emperor.”

“For once, just for once,” Haruka sighs, pressing his free hand to his forehead – his other arm holds a pile of clothing, a suit and shirt, most probably Rei’s – and glaring at the both of us as we continue giggling over Rei’s implications like little kids. “Can the two of you please,  _please_  act like grown-ups?”

“We solve crimes together, I blog about it, and this guy forgets his underwear.” I shrug, exchanging amused looks with Rei so I don’t have to look down and reassess his distracting lack of undergarments. “I wouldn’t hold out too much hope.”

I smile at Haruka, and Rei smiles beatifically up at him as well, and we cross looks again and just start another round of laughing. As it turns out, Rei has a very nice laugh, and if fooling around in front of his big brother is the way to make him laugh then I’m well-prepared to do that for as long as I can.

“The two of you,” Haruka sighs again, flopping down gracefully onto the couch in front of us, “Are  _hopeless_.”


	3. equivalent exchange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reigisa week | 6.17.mermen | equivalent exchange
> 
> This AU is actually based off Kiera Cass’ (partylikeawordstar) book The Siren. I made some changes here and there – there’s only supposed to be four sirens at a time, and they’re all supposed to be ladies – and, like Rei says later on, ‘siren’ and ‘merpeople’ can refer to different things. My siren boys do sometimes assume ‘fishy tails’ though, for presentation’s sake. I know it’s unrealistic. It’s a fantasy AU.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For more info about this Siren AU (warning: major spoilers ahead!), go read this [text post](http://patriciaselina.tumblr.com/post/89169341461/tagging-point0k-just-in-case-they-wanna-see-this).

The man he sees sitting on the ocean waves is the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

Actually, there were four of them –  _four_  men, all unearthly beautiful, all of them spread out lazily across the waters as easily as they would on land. Maybe Nagisa’s sisters would’ve fawned over the tall brunet with the broad shoulders. Or the blue-eyed boy with the dark hair and willowy limbs, the redhead with the dashing grin. But this is  _Nagisa_  looking down on them, and the truth is that when Nagisa sees the fourth member of their odd party – hair like midnight skies, eyes bright and piercing like the moon – his heart stops dead in its tracks.

He opens his mouth to sing, and then.

Then  _everything_  that Nagisa Hazuki ever knew dissipates into rack and ruin.

.

.

 _Please God_ , Nagisa might as well could’ve screamed into the void, kicking and thrashing as the water consumes him,  _my sisters are nosy and annoying, but let them live_.

_And, if You could, let **me**  live, too._

There’s nothing to do about the first plea, but as for the second –  _that_ , She is only too eager to fulfill.

.

.

When he comes to, the four of them tell Nagisa an old story, older than time itself.

The water is alive, spreading across continents and coral reefs, all the way from the past to the future. It only stands to reason that such a large sentient being would be in need of, for lack of a better word,  _livestock_  on which to survive on.

To put it bluntly – the Ocean lives, and She needs people to eat. It’s in the job description of people like them, like Rin and Haruka and Makoto and Rei – the lovely blue-haired one’s name is  _Rei_ , how so very fitting for one so beautiful – to help Her, in this regard. And if Nagisa chooses to, this shall become  _his_  duty, as well.

“What happens,” Nagisa asks, scrubbing furiously at his bubbling tears, “if I don’t choose to be this? To be like you?”

He’d only asked for curiosity’s sake –  _as if_  he’d prefer to stay away from Rei, not when he could be this close to him – but if Nagisa ever still had any doubts about accepting, the very sad and  _very_  obvious look on Rei’s face would have won him over completely. “Then there would be no choice but for Her to take you, for good, this time. You were originally slated to die, after all – it would only be correct for Her to act as such.”

Rin, the redhead, doesn’t bother to even look at Nagisa – he’s glaring madly at his foot as it pokes idly at the water – but he’s the odd man out. The one with the brown hair – Makoto – doesn’t stop rubbing calming circles on Nagisa’s back, even as it shudders and shakes under the weight of Nagisa’s second round of tears. And if Nagisa were to look up he’d have seen that the dark-haired one – Haruka – keeps glaring daggers at Rei, who seems to be flushed pink and uncharacteristically fiddling with his fingers.

“But – personally, if you were to ask me -” Rei says, haltingly, as Nagisa looks up to see him, and the spots of pink blooming on his high cheekbones. “It would please me very much if you. If you chose to stay with me. I mean with  _us_.”

Nagisa’s too overcome with raw, unhindered elation at Rei’s words, and that charming slip of his tongue, that it startles him out of his tears and makes a smile take over the rest of his face. “I’ll go with you guys!” he says, and Nagisa doesn’t know it,  _shouldn’t_ know it, but it makes something tightly coiled within Rei’s bones unravel just so, flooding him with too much warmth than his immortal bones are supposed to be capable of handling.

“That’s good, then,” Rei says, putting on the useless spectacles on his face so Nagisa won’t see the smile that forms in response. “That’s very,  _very_  good.”

One of the perks of being what he is now is that Nagisa has excellent eyesight. So Nagisa does see that smile Rei tries so very hard to hide, and his cheeks still feel warm even after Makoto and Haruka bring him home.

If Rei would be here to smile at him like that all the time, he’s perfectly fine with a hundred years.

.

.

This is a whispered conversation in the borrowed apartment that Rin and Rei share, as they stuff themselves silly with food Rin had bought from a successful part-time job:

“Rei, if you think he’s not gonna catch on, you’re  _clearly_  more stupid than I thought.”

“I’ve no idea what you are referring to, Rin-san.”

“Thirty years. I’ve known you  _thirty goddamned years_  and you better believe me when I say that I’ve  _never_  seen anyone look as goddamned  _whipped_  as you were back then since Haru first laid eyes on Mako.”

“Rin-san, you are clearly overreacting.”

“It was the time that I realized that Haru actually has emotions other than  _‘dead fish’_ and _‘drop-dead head over heels **for**  fish’_.”

“Rin-san, I was only being civil towards Nagisa-kun -”

“Ooh, so  _that_ 's what they call 'civil' now. Also: he's ‘ _Nagisa-kun_ ’ now, huh?”

“Now, Rin-san, you  _yourself_  told me that I shan’t act so formal, since we are all but brothers now, and all…”

“Yeah, but it took you twenty whole years to stop calling me ‘ _Rin-senpai_ ’, you dork. And even now, you call me ‘ _Rin-san’_! But  _he_  gets to be called ‘ _Nagisa-kun’_  in a matter of seconds. Gimme a break.”

“Rin-san, could it be…that you are not fond of Nagisa-kun?”

“Nah, not exactly. It’s just that – well, you know my time’s gonna be up soon, yeah?”

“Yes.”

“It’s already hard for me to think about leaving the married couple and your dork-ass self. If I have to get attached to the pipsqueak as well…yeah.”

“I see. I don’t  _agree_  with you, but I understand.”

“And ‘sides, between the two of us, you’ve got too much attachment to the pipsqueak to make up for it…”

“ _Rin-san_!”

“Tsch, poor little dorky fish, what I wouldn’t give to have you be more honest to yourself once in a while.”

“I  _am_  honest!”

“No, hun, you  _aren’t_. I won’t be surprised if you spend the entirety of your time moping and not telling him and making Mako and Haru crazy. And I won’t stand for that. In fact…”

“…Rin-san?”

“Rei, I want you to promise me something.”

.

.

“Aren’t we, I dunno, supposed to have fishy tails or something?”

“Maybe we could have the capacity to fashion such a facade, if She desires us to. But as far as my research goes, ‘ _siren’_  and ‘ _merpeople’_  can be mutually exclusive. Or at least it can be, in our case.” Rei says, adjusting their positions so that Nagisa’s nestled perfectly in the circle of his arms. It’s just for presentation’s sake, Rei thinks, because this is Nagisa’s first time on the job and Rei wants to be a comforting presence to him like Makoto had been during Rei’s first song, in turn, but as Nagisa curls up into his embrace there’s the drumroll of Rei’s heartbeat that pleads otherwise.

“What are we supposed to do, Rei-chan? Just…sit here, or something?”

“Or  _something_. Don’t worry, She shall guide you along the way – all there is for you to do is open your mouth, once She gives us the cue. The song shall flow from you easily then, and you are not to stop until She says so, as well.”

“How do I know when to stop?” Nagisa asks, his voice so  _little_  and  _unsure_ , and Rei could easily pass off the soft kiss he presses to the younger boy’s softer hair as an accident, but Rin muffles a laugh behind his fingers and Rei’s cheeks flush pink in response. Rin promised not to  _tell_ ; he didn’t promise not to  _laugh_  at how obvious his friend is being.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you,” Rei says.

 _I’m_   _here for you, so it’ll be all right_ , he adds mentally, but doesn’t say. It would be nothing but a distraction, and they have no time for that – She is hungry, no, starving. They have to work fast. But still Rei’s mouth keeps running away from him. “Do you trust me?”

“More than anything, Rei-chan,” Nagisa says, holding Rei’s hand in a vice grip. “More than anything.”

.

.

As one, they open their mouths to sing.


	4. catching up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reigisa week | 6.18.other sports | catching up
> 
> Based on the Siwon+Taeyeon scenes from the MV for the SuJu/SNSD collab for “Seoul Song”. Other castings in the background are RinAi as Shindong+Sunny (traffic enforcer and teacher), HaruMako as Kyuhyun+Seohyun (artist and park mascot), and SeiGou as Sungmin+Jessica (photographers).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haru and Rei are brothers in this AU, yes, I obviously have a bias. Haru's new friend/bicker-buddy Rin is childhood friends with Nagi and Mako, who the two brothers have not met until the present time of this AU. Just wanted to clear that up.
> 
> Also, I did just cast Rei as one of my SuJu biases. I am that self-indulgent.

"It’s just pedaling,  _seriously_ , I dunno why you’re getting all worked up about it.”

"So  _mean_ , Gou-chan! It’s not as if your whole  _life_  and  _death_  and  ** _sanity_**  hangs on whether or not I get to know how to bike really soon, y’know.”

"Poor little drama queen Nagisa. So you can’t catch up with the hot runner guy. Leave my sister alone and find a  _less_  athletic guy to drool over, for the love of God.”

"Easy for  _you_  to say, Rin-Rin, when the guy you always gush about is the cute kindergarten teacher with the bowlcut who always walks  _vee~ry_  slowly…”

"You  _brat_ , what the hell did you say!?”

“ _Onii-chan_ , calm down! Ugh,  _fine_ , Nagisa-kun, I’ll help you.”

"You are an  _angel_ , Gou-chan!”

.

.

.

Nagisa Hazuki doesn’t think he’s out of his mind. He may be falling a little bit in love, though.

Here’s the thing: there’s this guy he keeps seeing on his morning jog. Bright blue windswept hair, red and black running kit, purple earbuds, red-framed glasses. He has high cheekbones and a straight nose and fine features, and when he runs Nagisa goes all weak-kneed which is bad news because what Nagisa wants, what he really, _really_  wants, is to catch up on this cute guy and say hello.

But Nagisa’s legs are too short and too flabby and too much like the consistency of limp noodles for him to end up doing anything but pant haplessly as the cute jogger goes off into the distance, and it  _sucks_. Which is why Nagisa came up with the brilliant idea of biking to catch up with him, instead.

What can he say. Nagisa’s  _always_  been good at ideas.

Problem is, though, Nagisa isn’t exactly the kind of guy you’d call athletic. Swimming had been the only exception, and even then he’s not half as good as Mako and Rin. So, completely desperate and out of ideas, Nagisa had turned to the only person who he knew owned a bike for advice, his best friend, Gou.

In exchange for her tutorials, Nagisa’s gonna help her look for the cute photographer guy she bumped into the other day. But no telling Rin, please. Nagisa still wants to live.

Now, Gou, for lack of a better term, is a  _terror_  biking tutor. There’s a reason why Nagisa was totally bummed when Mako shook his head and said he didn’t know how to bike, either - because only one with at least a saint’s level of patience could teach Nagisa Hazuki anything without wanting to strangle him.

Each and every day, toiling under the stress and pressure of Gou’s shouted instructions, Nagisa would ask himself:  _is this even worth it?_  But then his mind would replay the last time he had watched, out of breath, as the cute jogger’s back disappeared into the distance without even a single word, and Nagisa’d just grit his teeth and bear it.

_I have to work harder. Because I don’t know him, but I want to. Oh God, do I want to._

.

.

.

Rei Ryugazaki doesn’t think he’s in love. He may be going a little bit out of his mind, though.

There’s this young man who Rei keeps seeing on his morning jog - round eyes, electically-colorful tracksuits, blond wavy hair - and he’s not normally the kind Rei would find attractive but apparently Rei’s been wrong all this time because he is, he’s everything Rei wanted but never really thought of asking for. And he doesn’t even know this young man’s name.

 _Ridiculous, Rei, you are being **absolutely**  ridiculous_, he berates himself, each and every time that he catches himself thinking of the other man. Which turns out to be every day, come to think of it.

Every day, Rei passes the blond man and wants very much to slow down, to let him catch up, to spare a few seconds of his elegantly-calculated schedule to talk to him. To smile at him, to ask for his name, because dreaming about someone’s face without ever knowing their name is unseemly and Rei knows this but he can’t stop, he can’t  _ever_  stop, even though he knows he should.

Because the bubbling feeling that builds up within his chest when he sees the familiar shock of blond hair and pale skin, while beautiful in its spontaneity, is just a few milimeters away from ‘ _creepy_ ’. And Rei was raised better than to be some kind of generic creeper preying on petite, attractive joggers.

So he turns the volume of his music player as high as it can go - not to eardrum-bursting levels, of course, Rei does still value his sense of hearing  _thank you very much_  - and every time he passes the blond he runs a little faster, because if he doesn’t he might just be tempted to stay a little longer, to drink in the beauty of the other man’s presence with an intensity that might end up whisking Rei off to the nearest police box.

This is how it goes on for the first day, and the next, and as one week passes Rei convinces himself that he’s perfectly fine with this, he has to live his life as usual and stop spending time moping over cute joggers he has no right to know…

…until  _one_  day, someone catches up to him, and Rei almost misses his next step.

"Hello, g’morning!" the blond says, cheery grin firmly in place, and oh  _wow_  is his voice just better than what Rei keeps imagining in his head. “I’ve seen you lots of times before, and I’m so glad I get to talk to you now! I’m Nagisa. What’s your name?”

 _Na-gi-sa_ , Rei thinks, imagining how the name would sound on his tongue. It sounds just like music.

"My name is Rei; a pleasant morning to you, as well."

“ _Rei_ ,” Nagisa mouths, and it shouldn’t make Rei’s knees wobble like gelatine but it does, Rei is definitely in trouble now. “Rei’s a beautiful name! Kinda girly, though - but the best ones usually are, ha ha. Do you always jog here?”

"Yes, give or take a couple days." Especially when Rei had spent mornings paralyzed in bed frustrated by the sheer difference between the life he lives and the one he dreams of (read: the difference is called ‘ _Nagisa_ ’, apparently), leaving his elder brother Haruka to drag him off the bed and to his feet. “You?”

"Nah, I usually jog back home, in Iwami. Never did jog much since I moved to Tokyo, but  _recently_ ,” here his eyes look at Rei with something that Rei’s easily-distracted mind could’ve mistaken for  _hope_ , “I’ve been getting the hang of it again.”

.

.

.

"The training wheels were a nice touch, Rin."

"That was Gou’s idea; told you that girl was smart. Anyway…so  _that’s_  your lil’ bro, huh, Haru?” Rin asks, casually leaning against the artist’s easel. “I can see why our Nagisa’s head-over-heels for him. He’s cute. Unlike  _you_.”

"Thank Kou for getting the new paints for me. Your sister is  _also_  cute,  _and_  helpful.” Haruka says, tapping away eraser shavings with one elegant finger, “Unlike  _you_.”

"Shut  _up_ , you dead fish! I’m  _plenty_  helpful, aren’t I? I’m securing you from whatever goons or hooligans are out there who’d love to throw your bony ass into the Pacific Ocean!”

"Actually, you’re waiting for the kindergarten class to cross the road so you can embarrass yourself in front of their teacher.  _Again_.”

"You absolute  _jerk_ -!”

"You might be mistaking me for a  _mirror_. Move now, you’re blocking the view.”

"What, of your brother and his groupie?"

"No - Rei is buying your friend coffee, I can see that  _perfectly_. I am referring to the large mascot with the cat ears.”

"…Haru, that’s a  _person_  under the costume, remember? Stop drooling over the kitty-man costume, I swear to  _God_ , have some decency.”

"Yes, I know. I just want to know who the person under the costume is…"

"Also, by the way, it seems that Nagisa just asked your brother out. Your Rei’s cheeks are so red."

"Yes, yes. That’s good for them."

"Also I think Nagisa kissed his cheek a little."

"Yes, yes… _what_!?”

"Brother complex.  _Totally_. Calling it now.”

"You’re one to talk."


	5. reception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reigisa week || 6.19.winter || reception
> 
> From my Frozen/Splash Free AU fic Abluvion!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic happens around a year after Nagisa's part in the [first pair of epilogues for Abluvion.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1470334/chapters/3828112)

Our windows are large enough to grant us a lovely view of the spectacle Haru- _aniue_  had made – Tottori Castle, and the outbuildings surrounding it, is enshrouded in smooth sparkling ice-blue frost, adding decorative flourishes when needed. It’s not a design that Haru- _aniue_  would favor, but it’s one that  _I_  would approve of, and that is probably the reason Haru- _aniue_  made it that way.

Delicate snowflakes fall from an unknown source, delighting children and adults alike with their intricate designs. Nagisa had held his hand out for one, and now here he comes running back, showing me a quickly-melting outline of a butterfly.

 

“Had it always been this beautiful?” Nagisa asks me, as he joins me on the couch, the butterfly snowflake melting into the creases of his outstretched palm.

“Hmm?”

“Your brother’s magic,” he clarifies, gracefully not succumbing to his deepest urges to refer to him as ‘ _King Haru-chan_ ’, whilst succumbing to his deeper urge of nestling deeper into my embrace.  _Yes_. That’s very good of you,  _thank you_ , Nagisa’s subconscious. “Has it  _always_  been this  _beautiful_?”

“Yes,” I say, relishing the warmth of Nagisa’s body beside mine for, after today’s earlier ceremonies, I now have a right to.  _Until death do us part_ , even. “I can’t remember much of it, though. But as far as I know…if all the memories I have of water and snow have been of Haru- _aniue_ ’s make…then yes, his powers have always been this stunning.”

“I’m  _so_  happy he’s fine with this,” Nagisa says, “I was so worried he wouldn’t be, what with me being related to my sisters and all.”

“Haru- _aniue_  was the one who said that he wanted you to be a part of the family, right? He likes you a lot, Nagisa.”

The blissed-out expression Nagisa gets when I refer to him just by name is still my favourite thing in the world.

“Yeah, well, I like Haru- _nii_ - _chan_  a lot too! I like it when he helps me make iced sweets, for one. And the way he  _swims_! He swims like those marine animals they talk about –  _dolphins_ , I guess they were called – and it’s nothing short of  _amazing_!”

“Wow, Nagisa, that’s an enormous amount of praises you have got in store for Haru- _aniue_. Should I be jealous?” I chide, poking my now-spouse in the stomach, like he usually does to me whenever I say that Makoto’s physique is ‘ _flawlessly beautiful_ ’. “Are you thinking that maybe you chose the wrong Tottori family member to pledge your vows to…?”

“Rei, I know I said I love you best when you’re being silly, but that’s just  _ridiculous_.” Nagisa says, pouting like a little child. “And  _I’m_  the one who’s supposed to be jealous here. I mean –  _seriously_ , as if your fawning over Mako-chan wasn’t enough, you had to get Rin-chan as your best man too! And you guys didn’t even wanna tell me what the three of you did on your stag night. How  _couldn’t_  I be jealous?”

“It’s seriously  _nothing_  to get mad over, Nagisa,” I sigh. Basically what happened that night is that we went chasing after tales of ghosts, Makoto and I clung to each other like little babies crying for milk (and mercy), and Rin, who came up with the blasted idea in the first place, laughed his behind off and just might be the  _slightest_  bit psychotic. Not the kind of thing you’d tell your new husband.

Well. Maybe it’d be the kind to tell him during one’s tenth anniversary, once he has less of a chance to divorce me just because I used to be a twenty-one-year-old man deathly afraid of ghosts. Yes. That’s the plan.

“And then before the ceremony started, he whispered something to you and you blushed beet red.” Nagisa huffs, crossing his arms over his chest in an impressive display of beautiful rage. “So yeah, Rei, the jealous one here should be  _me_.”

“Now who’s being ridiculous now?” I say, tipping my pouting spouse’s chin up so I could see his lovely face better. Backlit by the moonlight streaming through our windows, and the flickering candles keeping us company, his face is the exact kind I would, in Rin’s illustrious words, ‘ _kiss the hell out of_ ’.

So I do. Because I can, now. And besides…

“Rin-san had been telling me,” I murmur, pressing feather-light kisses to his jaw line because I can, and isn’t that the most beautiful thing? “that he would die of a heart attack if I did not quote-unquote ‘ _act on the unhealthy urges you have for the pipsqueak_ ’. So here I am.”

“I’m pretty sure that you’re not supposed to call your newly-wedded husband a pipsqueak, Rei.”

“Fine, then,  _husband_.” I say, looking at him, and then –

“ _Rei_!” Nagisa squeaks, hiding his face behind his hands, cheeks a nice incandescent red. “Don’t call me  _that_  and then go and – and look at me like  _that_. With those  _eyes_!  _Ugh_!”

“Oh, my eyes? But what’s wrong with them? When all I’m thinking of right now is that it is  _cold_ , and  _dark_ , and I would very much prefer for my husband to be  _content_  and  _warm_  –”

“Off to bed with you now, Rei!”

“My, my, so forceful,  _husband_. I’m impressed.”

“Rei stop looking at me like that, that’s not what I mean! I mean seriously – hey wait why are you hauling me over your shoulder?  _Rei_!!!”

As I toss a giggling Nagisa on the – our  _our **our**_  – bed, seeing him look at me with half-lidded, somewhat darkened eyes, I realize that this is the reason why people like Rin and Nagisa keep teasing people to get the upper hand, because victory feels like  _this_  and it feels too  _good_.

What happens next? I, ahh, eventually end up starting a tickle fight I ungracefully lose to, and fall asleep. As for the other details? I, well, I would rather keep those to myself.

…particularly because I don’t want to explain why Haru- _aniue_  left a penguin figurine frozen in a block of ice by our door the next morning. Don’t ask, you poor souls. Please don’t ask.


	6. pick-up lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reigisa week || 6.21.freestyle || pick-up lines
> 
> Surprise sixth ficlet! This one's really rushed, but I hope you still like it, all the same!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on an OPM song my mum likes, titled [ _Ale, Nasa Langit Na Ba Ako_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98VRqjHuJn8) (roughly:  _Miss, am I in heaven?_ )

I wake up, and then I see… _him_.

Serious eyes half-hidden behind shiny cherry-red spectacles, dark blue hair artfully tousled in a way that models aim to achieve, his slightly tanned skin matching nicely with the pale-purple scrubs he’s wearing. He’s so very beautiful and I could just cry, but he might think I’m just high off painkillers. And that won’t do, because he _has_ to know. He just has to know that I’m _not_ high off painkillers - I’m high off the flawless perfect picture of his pretty face, so even if it would make my stitches hurt I just have to say _something_.

“Hey, mister, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes, you can,” he says, pushing up his glasses with his free hand, a small smile on his face - polite enough to match his quiet elegance, but smug enough to tell me that he knows how he’s gonna deal with whatever crazy question I might come up with. I really like that confidence. I also really like him. _God_ , do I like him.

I cannot believe that I actually find myself wanting to do something like send the guy who bumped into my car a fruit basket. I know, I should be telling him _don’t text and drive_ and all that, but - well. He messed up, and now this really handsome nurse is here, checking my vitals and fussing over my rickety hospital bed, and how can that be anything other than a good thing?

“Mister Nurse,” I say, and even though clutching at my chest is a bit cliché (and would probably hurt my stitches a whole damned lot), it just seems like the right thing to do. “Am I in heaven?”

The nurse’s smile falls from his beautiful face, and normally I’d have laughed at him because he looks hilarious with his eyes wide open and he sure as hell didn’t see those words coming, but right now all I’m thinking is that even his embarrassing faces are _beautiful_ and I wanna see them every day for as long as I live.

As far as I know, falling in love was not supposed to be this quick and intense, was not supposed to be feeling like someone lit a match in some kerosene can inside of me and let me explode, but apparently it does and I don’t even regret anything.

He clears his throat, giving me a good look at his bobbing Adam’s apple, before he says, “No, you are not. In fact you are in the intensive care unit, and while the doctors said that they deemed you to be out of the critical area a good ten minutes ago, if you keep asking questions like that I may be forced to question their highly esteemed opinions.”

He says that all in a single breath, with his eyebrow quirking up a little somewhere before the end.

Beautiful _and_ sassy. I like that.

“I find it hard to believe that,” I say, cursing how my voice sounds less sultry and sexy and seductive (like his) and is rather more croaky and frog-like. Still, he doesn’t seem like the guy who’d appreciate an incomplete sentence. “When you look so damned _beautiful_ that there’s nothing you possibly could be but an _angel_.”

He flushes a deeper red, and finds it really hard to keep up eye contact, so my heart makes a little _whoop-de-do_ somersault in my chest. But then he straightens himself up - whoa, he’s so _tall_! - clears his throat, and tells me completely seriously, his cheeks still flushed pink and his eyes looking somewhere over my hair:

“My apologies, but...I already have someone.”

“...oh.” Okay. Of course. Why did I not see that happening.

It would hurt my neck (and my _heart_ ) to see who he seems to be looking at, but curiosity kills cats and lovesick guys named Nagisa Hazuki, so I look back. And what I see makes me wanna cry, again. The girl he’s looking at is just so pretty, with long red hair and sparkling eyes.

Who am I kidding. I don’t have a chance in hell.

So I mumble an apology to the really hot (and _really_ taken, goddamn my luck) nurse, somehow fall asleep, and don’t you dare believe Haru because I sure as hell did not wake up crying.

(“Yes, you did, Nagisa. Like a little baby.”)

(“Shut up, Haru-chan.”)

.

.

.

The look on Rin’s face right now is one I haven’t seen before.

“So this guy, who by the way you thought was really cute, makes the corniest pick-up line ever, and instead of facing the challenge and asking him out like a man, you act like a silly little baby and hide behind my sister.”

“Rin-san! Don’t be absurd…what I did was merely to politely excuse myself from the situation, and it was not something as crass as hiding behind Gou-san…” As if I could hide behind Gou. If you take that metaphorically, she leaves me to fight my own demons because ‘you are supposed to be a grown-up, Rei-kun’, and if you take that literally…she’s shorter than me, so it’d make no sense for me to hide behind her, either way.

“She doesn’t even _like_ you.” Rin groans, spinning around in his computer chair like a little child would.

“Yes, I know that.” Gou doesn’t like me romantically, despite growing up with me and all, I’m more of a brotherly figure to her than anything.

“And _you_ don’t even like her. Or _girls_ , for that matter.”

“It has nothing to do with gender.” Or at least I _think_ it doesn’t – because I’ve always admired beautiful people, both male and female, but seeing the petite blond man slumbering peacefully in the ICU had been the first time my oft-forgotten thoracic muscle beat dramatically in my chest, and I almost asked Rin if he could get me help because I might be having a heart attack. “Nevertheless, I still think I did the right thing. He was hurt, drugged, and delirious. I am absolutely certain he’d have forgotten everything he said by now.”

“On the other hand, I am absolutely certain he isn’t.”

“How can you be so sure, Rin-san –”

“Three o’clock, Rei.”

“Rin-san, what are you talking about –”

“Just _look_ , goddamnit, Rei.”

So I look, to my right as Rin told me to, and see… _him_.

He’s even more beautiful upright than he had been lying on the hospital bed. Wavy blond hair, large, wide eyes, and cheeks flushed pink with…what, exertion? The cold? It _definitely_ shouldn’t come from the fact that he had just seen me. And my cheeks shouldn’t be flushed upon seeing him, in turn.

But even though I know I shouldn’t be feeling this, doing this, I take a step forward. He does, too, in turn, only –

“ _Ouch!_ ”

– his shoe snags on a gap on the sidewalk – he falls over himself, ungracefully, un-beautifully, head-over-heels, and I am too shocked to do something helpful like catch him.

“Goddamnit, you guys are _hopeless_.” I faintly hear Rin sigh behind me, as my mind and body react minutes too late and go to pick the now semi-conscious blond up. “Rei, I am embarrassed to be friends with a guy as _slow_ as you.”

“Please _do_ shut _absolutely_ up, Rin-san.”

.

.

.

My eyes open, and it’s the same hospital ceiling from the same hospital bed, which is to be expected since I kinda live and work in the area and all. What comes as a surprise is that, when I wake up, I see the same beautiful face.

It’s _him_ , again. He’s wearing clothes that _aren’t_ scrubs, this time – off-duty, then. He’s also smiling at me, which makes my heart go flailing and somersaulting again. And I know that just the other day he said that he already had someone, but I’ve spent a good forty-eight hours repeating that line of his over and over again and something about his tone of voice back then just doesn’t sit right with me. I told Haru, and Haru said that people’s words don’t sit right with me when I think they’re lying.

I’m not the kind of person who gets a hundred percent on exams and stuff, but I am the person who has a good track record with reading people, so this gutfeel of mine has gotta count for something. And if that weren’t conclusive enough – when he sees that I have woken up, his smile is nothing less than _blindingly beautiful_. And I can see in his eyes that he’s relieved that I’m awake, which is to be expected since I kinda fell head-over-heels in front of him (and I thought that was just supposed to be a metaphor?), but there’s a hint of amusement in them, too, the same hint I’ve seen when I first saw him before, which makes me rethink my belief that I’m good at reading people because _why did I ever lose hope before???_

“Answer me, please,” I say, fully aware of how lame I must sound right now, “…do you _really_ have someone?”

“I _could_ have someone,” he replies, with that addictive flash of sassiness sparkling his eyes and making them twinkle beautifully, “but I _don’t_.” He grins, and it makes my heart skip a beat.

“Would you like to help me remedy that?”

 _Oh, **yes** , I so totally do_, I think, smiling so wide it hurts my cheeks and lips. (Oh well, maybe that would be a perfect excuse for me to get him to ‘ _kiss it better_ ’ later…) “Hm. Answer my next question first.”

“All right.”

“Mister, am I in heaven?”

“We must be, so I’ll have to say yes.” the really hot nurse says, grinning like a fox, and it’s just not fair, he’s just too attractive, how am I supposed to deal?

“Really?”

“Yes. Because _you’re_ here, and if _you_ weren’t an angel then there’s got to be something wrong with the Universe.”

He grins that sexy grin again, my heart goes _thump-thump-thump_ , and in case you didn’t get the clue – I _really like this guy_.

And as it turns out, I realize as he looks at me with those _eyes_ of his, he really likes me too.

This is the _life_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [OH MY GOD GUYS WE HAVE FANART NOW.](http://toasterization.tumblr.com/post/91012816881/mister-nurse-am-i-in-heaven-no-you-are-not) OH MY GOD. SOBBING. (ALE NASA LANGIT NA BA AKO - ALE NASA LANGIT NA BA AKO - MAMA IKAW BA PO SI SAN PEDROOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOO)


End file.
